


When All The Music Dies

by Smokeycut



Category: Batman - Fandom
Genre: Civilian AU, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2018-10-09 13:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10412742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smokeycut/pseuds/Smokeycut
Summary: Cassandra Cain and Harper Row are connected in ways that neither of them know. Abusive fathers, loving brothers, and the fact that Harper's new boss is Cassandra's dad.





	1. Prologue

The smog that blankets Gotham's skies doesn't reach out all the way to Wayne Manor, and for that, Cassandra Wayne is thankful. She comes up to the roof at night to gaze at the stars, and to dance beneath their light. Her footwork is flawless, and the emotion she conveys with each action would drive anyone to tears if they understood body language like she does. She tells a story about a girl who escaped from an awful past and found a future with endless possibilities, but there is no audience to see it. Her only guests are the lightning bugs that flash and the cicadas that buzz in the summer heat, but still she dances each night. She has nothing else to do when the nightmares wake her, as they often do. 

Once again she had been torn from sleep by memories of her father and his anger. It's been 5 years since she last saw him, but still she's terrified of the possibility he could find her again. Bruce had promised her that would never happen, and she wants so desperately to believe him. Cassandra pushes the thought away and narrows her focus to include nothing but her performance.

She spins on her toes, gifting the night with another fouetté, making seven in rapid succession, before coming to a stop and lifting her extended leg higher, until it kisses the full moon up above. When she finishes her story, she sits on crossed legs and massages her sore feet. Her gaze turns to the sky and she watches the twinkling stars, imagining the kinds of worlds they must host. Out there somewhere, in the black, is there another girl who dances to put her mind and soul at ease? Or is it just her, all alone in the universe? Both thoughts are comforting in a way, but hold a small element of pain. She pushes the thoughts out of her mind, and simply blows a kiss to the moon. A thank you, for serving as her spotlight each night. She heads inside and makes her way back to her bedroom, only to find that her little brother's cat had claimed her bed while she was away. She scratches under his chin, eliciting a gentle purr.

She gazes out the window, looking towards the city and wondering still, if there is anyone like her. Anyone who is kept up at night by a life they left behind. She hums softly to herself, a song that her new family sang to her at her first birthday party. Cassandra Cain turned 16 this year, and her heart sings when she thinks of the family that took her in.

\----------------

The hum of the tv is background noise in Harper Row's head. Her thoughts are far beyond the cramped apartment she finds herself confined to. Her gaze, and her mind, are facing the cloudy night sky. She knows there are stars beyond the veil, but she longs to see them tonight, or any other night. Stars always reminded her of her mother, and their absence serves as a painful reminder of what happened years ago. Harper rubs at her eyes, pushing away both sleep and tears for the night. She sighs, and looks down at the boy laying on the couch, fast asleep. His head is in her lap, and she runs her fingers through his messy red curls. She thinks to herself that maybe she could love this boy, and maybe they could have an okay life together, and maybe that would be enough. She reminds herself that maybe is never enough. 

Harper reaches behind her head and pulls away the hair tie keeping her french braid in place. She combs through long brown hair with her fingers and thinks about her younger brother sleeping in the next room over. The courts finally granted her custody over Cullen shortly after her 17th birthday. It had been 2 years since she gained emancipation, and now her brother was free from their father as well. Her gaze turns back to the night sky, hoping for a glimpse of something beyond the dirty, damaged apartments. Harper wonders if there's anyone out there in the black like her. Anyone who ran away from their old life, and is struggling to make a new one work. She thinks to herself that there must be someone out there, kept up at night by the life they left behind. She drums a beat on the arm of her couch, a song her mother always sang along to in the car. 17 year old Harper Row, with the world on her shoulders, catches a glimpse of a star in the sky and smiles.


	2. Author Update

Hey guys, it's Fetch. I've been thinking on this for a while now (pretty much ever since I posted the first chapter) and I've finally reached a conclusion. I really feel bad about this, but I'm not going to continue this fic. Other projects have consumed all of my time and effort, which means that some things have to be left hanging. This story is, unfortunately, one of those things. 

However. I do plan on continuing it, just in a different form. Not today, or even for a while, but someday. I want to make it into an original story, with my own characters filling the roles of Harper and Cassandra. I may try to publish it as a book, or I may just put it up online for free. But I do want people to see the story of two girls who have lost a lot, ending up together and falling in love.

Sorry guys. I hate having to abandon a story like this, especially when I had so much I wanted to do with it. 

Have a happy new year though, okay?

-Fetch


End file.
